Scott Devon and the Vogue Dress he Designed
You come from the world of the wholesale frozen bread business, which is a far cry from designing products. What made you decide to add on a design career with Devon Works?
I come from a family tradition of entrepreneurs. My father was involved with multiple business interests as were his father and brothers. Both of my grandfathers owned grocery stores in Detroit, Michigan. My father became ill when I was 35 and I took over his businesses for our family.
I consolidated everything behind the Frozen Food company, brought in professional managers, and grew the business 4 fold over the next decade.
How did Devon Works develop as a company?
After being successful I was looking for new challenges and started the Motorsports company. It was meant to be a hobby at first because of my passion for cars and motorcycles but developed over time to where I attempted to purchase the Viper brand from Chrysler with a group of investors.
It became part of Fiat instead, but my goal was to make it into the Lamborghini of North America by adding an evolved design and better performance. I ended up building two cars on the platform and debuted them to much acclaim at the Pebble Beach Concours Show in 2009. Prior to the show we set two world records for lap times at Willow Springs and Laguna Seca.
Why did you choose to produce and highlight the Tread 1 as one of the first projects for Devon Works?
The prototype builder in California I was working with introduced me to Jason Wilbur who was with Honda at the time. Jason shared his portfolio of designs that included cars, motorcycles, pens, and many watch concepts. When I saw the concept of the belt watch I told him it was his masterpiece and I felt it would be a great addition to the cars and motorcycles I’ve done.
We made a deal without knowing it could be made or not. My biggest contribution beyond the financial backing was to make it a hybrid. Battery operated and mechanical movements that would lower the cost significantly. I was interested in developing a brand not just selling a few mechanical watches for 500k. We were fortunate to find a build partner in the aerospace industry that took a no compromise direction from Jason and me to engineer the watch. The rest is horlogerie history as the game changing Tread 1 came to life and redefined watch making.
Tread 1 Case
What other projects have you worked on under the Devon Works banner?
In addition to the car, bikes, and watches I collaborated with Agatha Blois, who designed custom leather jackets and pants for the world’s most famous rock and pop legends.
You built a beautiful and very large store on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills and then shut it down after 2 months? Why did you make this decision?
My mistake was not just staying with these products. I overreached our development budget by developing ready to wear, couture, and a complete lifestyle array of product and opening a huge Beverly Hills Flagship store. Although critically acclaimed, (one dress was even named best dress by Vouge UK) we went three times over budget on the build out. Also, in LA the celebs don’t pay for anything as their stylists consider everything an advertisement for the brand. We also had poor timing thinking the recession would be over by the time the store was opened.
After a short period of time, it became apparent that it was just going to be good money after bad and so we closed it when we had a chance to sublet the space. But no regrets! I knew I had a game changing watch, denim, and motorsports to redirect and focus on.
You just returned from BaselWorld. Although the watch has been seen and talked about for months, what was the result when people finally saw it in person?
The Tread 1 was dubbed the “James Dean, and Harley Davidson of Watches”. American cool. We signed up Asia, Europe, South America etc.
What is your current vision for the Devon Works watches?
My vision for our watch business is to own the patented new movement of telling time with belts. I love MBF and other extreme innovative watches but we want to be more like Bell Ross and make our watches more accessible. Tread 2 is designed and will be 5k less than the epic Tread 1.
My hope is that the watches we make transcend borders and bring cache and hipness to American watch making culture much like Apple, Levis, and Harley Davidson have done. We really see that coming together with a backlog of orders, happy retailers, and pleased clients! ”Time Belt” technology is a very cool thing and we can’t wait to introduce Tread 2 next year at BaselWorld 2012!
Meehna Goldsmith's fascination with timepieces began with her parents' antique grandfather clock, whose harmonious ticks and chimes echoed throughout the house during her childhood. 
With a review and two interviews, you’re becoming an expert on all things Tread-related
I enjoyed the interview and most curious thing was hearing that Jason’s original concept called for the watch to be mechanical. Making it a hybrid was a good move as there’s already a belt driven watch (much delayed Monaco V4 from TAG that finally came out as limited edition and costs $100K) and there are a few watches that tell time using belts (can’t recall models, but all the ones I’ve seen were $200K+).
In contrast to those six-figure timepieces, $15K for Tread 1 and $10K for Tread 2 seems downright affordable
As much as you know I love my high Swiss watchmaking, I will wave the pom-poms for the Americans when they produce groundbreaking product. I can’t wait for the Tread 2. How’s a girl to decide, presuming she can save up the required amounts?
We need to do a group buy on T2 & get a discount
I’m with ya, Ivan!